“We’ll see what we can do tomorrow,” said Loeb, an eight-time world rally champion. “We have to do it correctly today and, for sure, it’ll be a hard fight. In our situation we have to fight, the gap is so small and it will definitely be hard tomorrow to keep Mikko [Hirvonen] behind us.”

Jari-Matti Latvala leads the way for the Ford World Rally Team in third place, one position and only 1.1sec ahead of teammate Petter Solberg. But Latvala baffled by the pace of the two Citroën drivers out front: “I was happy with how I was driving, but the time has not been coming,” explained the 27-year-old Finn at the end of the day’s closing super special.

Latvala added: “I can’t seem to drive any faster than Sébastien [Loeb], there is nothing else I can do really. Anything can happen tomorrow, but today I couldn’t seem to increase my speed as I already felt I was driving on the limit. Hopefully we can come up with some ideas overnight and we will see what happens tomorrow.”

Privateer driver Mads Østberg is currently fifth in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Fellow Fiesta driver Ott Tänak is sixth for the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team after adopting a cautious driving approach following a puncture earlier in the day.

Jari Ketomaa holds seventh despite a persistent engine misfire hampering his Autotek Fiesta. Matti Rantanen has made a strong return to the WRC and is currently eighth in another Fiesta.

Rounding off the top 10 are Martin Prokop and Rally Finland rookie Ken Block who are ninth and 10th respectively. Despite Block never having contested in Rally Finland before, the American had a trouble-free day in his Monster-backed Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

“Now I understand all the fuss about Rally Finland,” explained Block. “These are some of the best stages in the world; they’re so much fun. It’s difficult to know when to push and when to hold back on these types of roads, but the atmosphere and the number of fans in the forest is just incredible.”

Making a welcome return to the WRC, Australia’s Chris “Atko” Atkinson was eighth having until he got stuck on a tree stump and was forced to retire for the day. It is expected that Atkinson will return tomorrow under Rally 2 for the final day of action.

Evgeny Novikov also ran out of luck, rolling twice on stage two. Despite inflicting significant cosmetic damage to his Fiesta RS WRC he was able to nurse his car through the remaining stages. Novikov’s co-driver Denis Giraudet, however, is suffering from a sore back after a heavy landing earlier in the day.